EPA Chesapeake Bay Program announces $12.6 million in grants for on the ground projects

(Annapolis, MD) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced more than $12.6 million in grants to restore and protect rivers and streams throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The grants are part of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, which is funded primarily through the $73 million that Congress designates to the Chesapeake Bay Program for the Chesapeake Bay clean up.

Projects from this year’s grant program span the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed, with the 44 grants supporting projects in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The projects cover a wide-range of clean water issues facing local communities and the Bay, such as helping farmers to reduce agricultural pollution and to protect wildlife habitat, installing green infrastructure, and improving oyster habitats.

“This funding will go directly to on the ground restoration projects that are crucial to improving the health of the Bay and local water throughout the region,” said Chanté Coleman, director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition. “These projects are improving local communities and ensuring the Bay continues to show signs of improvement. It is now more important than ever to keep the Bay restoration on track and ensure future generations have access to this national treasure.”

This past March, the President’s proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget zeroed out the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program’s budget, which includes eliminating funding for these grants. The Coalition has worked closely with members of Congress and received bipartisan support to restore this essential funding that is necessary to continue our work for clean water, a healthy environment, and the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“As a homegrown Baltimorean, I know how important the Chesapeake Bay is to our region’s economy and to who we are as people. I’m grateful we’ve been able to make progress towards recovery through a continued partnership of federal, state, and local stakeholders, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” said Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. “I’m the father of two kids and three – soon to be four – grandchildren. I know just how much the Bay has to offer, and I want future generations to enjoy this incredible resource just as much as I did.”

The Choose Clean Water Coalition, an organization that harnesses the collective power of more than 230 local, state, regional and national groups to advocate for clean rivers and streams in all communities in the Chesapeake ­­